How to Perform Competitor Content Analysis: Step-by-Step Guide

Competitor content analysis helps you improve your content strategy by identifying gaps, understanding what works for others, and refining your approach to rank higher in search results. Here's a quick summary of the process:

• Why It Matters: Learn from competitors to spot market gaps, improve engagement, and set benchmarks for your content.
• Tools You Need: Use platforms like SEMrush, Ahrefs, BuzzSumo, and Similarweb for keyword tracking, backlink analysis, and performance insights.
• Key Steps:
  1. Find Your Competitors: Identify who ranks for your target keywords.
  2. Spot Content Gaps: Discover topics, keywords, or formats you're missing.
  3. Analyze Top Content: Study competitors' best-performing pieces for structure, depth, and engagement.
  4. Build Your Plan: Create optimized content using insights from the analysis.

Quick Comparison of Tools

Tool	Best For
SEMrush	Keyword and performance tracking
Ahrefs	Backlink and keyword gap analysis
BuzzSumo	Identifying popular content
Similarweb	Traffic and audience behavior

Start by identifying your competitors, analyze their strengths, and create content that fills gaps while improving quality and relevance. With the right tools and strategy, you can outperform competitors and boost your results.

How To Check Competitor Keywords Using Ahrefs & Semrush

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Step 1: Find Your Main Competitors

Identifying your true content competitors means looking beyond just direct business rivals. Some of the strongest competition for your content might come from industry publications, blogs, or even complementary businesses targeting the same keywords.

How to Identify Competitors

Use keyword overlap and traffic analysis tools to pinpoint your content competitors. Start by reviewing your top-performing keywords in Google Search Console. Search these terms to see which websites consistently rank in the top results.

Here’s a simple approach to finding your main content competitors:

• Keyword Mapping: Analyze search results to find domains targeting overlapping keywords.
• Traffic Analysis: Use tools to identify websites with traffic patterns similar to yours.
• Social Media Tracking: Monitor industry hashtags to discover active content creators.

For example, if you're in the project management software space, you might find that blogs or industry sites - rather than direct competitors - are ranking for your target keywords.

Break Down Competitor Content Strategies

Once you’ve identified competitors, take a closer look at their content strategy. Focus on these areas:

• Content Volume: How much content are they producing compared to you?
• Content Formats: Do they rely on blogs, videos, infographics, or a mix?
• Publishing Frequency: How often are they posting?
• Topic Focus: What themes or topics are they consistently covering?

For instance, a competitor publishing three 1,500-word blogs per week might consistently rank in the top three for their target keywords.

Track key metrics to guide your analysis:

Metric	Purpose
Publishing Frequency	Understand how often they post
Content Length	Benchmark average word counts
Keyword Rankings	Assess their SEO performance
Engagement Metrics	Measure audience interaction

This detailed tracking will help you uncover content gaps in the next step.

Step 2: Find Content Gaps

Content gap analysis helps you discover areas where your competitors are ranking, but you're not. It builds on the competitor list from Step 1, zeroing in on missed opportunities in their content strategies.

Understanding Content Gaps

Content gaps can take several forms:

• Topic gaps: Subjects your competitors cover that you haven’t explored.
• Content depth gaps: Areas where your content lacks the in-depth detail competitors provide.
• Format gaps: Missing content types, like videos, infographics, or guides.
• Keyword gaps: Search terms where competitors rank higher than you.

Focus on gaps that align with your business goals and address unmet audience needs. For instance, HubSpot increased organic traffic and leads by creating 50 sales-related articles to fill a gap in their content library.

Tools to Identify Content Gaps

Here are some tools that can help you pinpoint content opportunities:

Tool	Key Feature
Ahrefs	Visual keyword overlap analysis
SEMrush	Insights into top-performing content
KeywordGaps	Strategic content recommendations

When using these tools, prioritize metrics that align with your goals. For example, Ahrefs' Traffic Value metric can help you focus on high-impact keywords instead of just high search volume [6].

Real-Life Content Gap Example

A travel insurance company conducted a gap analysis and found:

• Discovery: Competitors dominated terms like "digital nomad insurance" (5,000 monthly searches), while the company had no content targeting this niche [2].
• Opportunity: Competitors failed to address specific concerns such as:
  • Coverage needs for remote workers.
  • Regulations for multi-country insurance.
  • Comparisons of policy durations.

By creating content to fill these gaps, the company achieved first-page rankings within three months and saw a 40% increase in quote requests.

Identifying these gaps sets clear targets for your content strategy. In Step 3, we’ll refine this approach by analyzing top-performing competitor content.

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Step 3: Study Top Competitor Content

Once you've identified content gaps, the next step is to analyze your competitors' best-performing content. This helps you pinpoint what makes their articles work - whether it's their keyword strategies, content quality, or technical elements.

What Makes Competitor Content Stand Out?

High-ranking competitor content often excels in a few key areas. These include:

• In-depth coverage: Articles that fully address user intent and provide detailed information.
• Expert authorship: Clear credentials or industry expertise from the author.
• Reliable data: Claims supported by citations and up-to-date statistics.
• Visuals: Smart use of images, videos, and infographics to enhance readability.
• Easy-to-read structure: Logical headings, subheadings, and a scannable layout.

For instance, Airbnb increased their organic traffic by 27% by incorporating expert quotes and embedding videos into their articles [3].

Analyzing Keywords and Links

Looking at how competitors use keywords and build backlinks can reveal actionable strategies. Successful content often includes:

Element	Observations	Suggested Actions
Keyword Usage	Well-placed keywords in headings	Align keywords with your content layout
Content Length	Longer articles attract more backlinks	Focus on creating detailed content
Link Quality	Links from authoritative sources	Target respected industry publications
Regular Updates	Refreshing content keeps rankings high	Plan quarterly updates for key articles

Research indicates that well-crafted content is 35% more likely to gain backlinks compared to poorly written material [5]. Instead of chasing link quantity, aim to create resources that naturally attract high-quality links.

Comparing Tools for Competitor Analysis

The right tools can make competitor analysis much easier. Here's a quick comparison of two popular platforms:

Feature	SEMrush	Ahrefs
Keyword Analysis	Extensive	Good
Backlink Database	Large	Larger
Content Gap Analysis	Yes	Yes
Site Audit	Detailed	Basic

SEMrush is great for in-depth keyword analysis, while Ahrefs shines with its larger backlink database [4]. Your choice should depend on what you need most and your budget.

Armed with these insights, you're now ready to move on to Step 4, where you'll focus on crafting content that outshines the competition.

Step 4: Build Your Content Plan

Now that you've analyzed competitor weaknesses and top-performing content, it's time to focus on putting your plan into action.

Create Content Outlines

Start by drafting detailed outlines based on what works for your competitors. Look for recurring themes and identify ways to add something extra. A strong outline should include:

• Key subtopics and supporting details
• Fresh angles that incorporate expert opinions or data-driven insights found in competitor content

Choose the Right Keywords

Focus on the keywords from your gap analysis that match your audience's interests and align with your business objectives. Here's a quick guide:

Metric	Ideal Range	Notes
Search Volume	100-1000 (for niche topics)	Higher for broader topics
Keyword Difficulty	30-60	Aim for a balance between competition and achievability
Purchase Intent	Medium-High	Important for content aimed at conversions

Tools like Ahrefs or SEMrush can help you evaluate these metrics effectively.

Optimize for SEO

Pay attention to these technical details to ensure your content is search-friendly:

1. Titles and Structure

   • Write titles that include your target keywords and keep them under 60 characters.
   • Use clear headers (H2/H3) to organize the content and improve readability.

2. Technical Elements

Element	Best Practice
URL Structure	Keep it short and keyword-focused
Internal Linking	Add 3-5 relevant internal links
Image Optimization	Use compressed images and descriptive alt text

Wrapping It Up

After completing these four steps, turn your findings into a continuous process for long-term success.

Key Takeaways

Effective competitor analysis uses data to turn raw information into actionable content strategies. This process involves four main actions: identifying competitors, spotting gaps, benchmarking performance, and executing a well-thought-out plan.

Keeping the Momentum

To keep improving:

• Develop a clear system for applying insights from competitor analysis to your content strategy.
• Define measurable KPIs to track the impact of your changes.
• Work closely with your SEO and social media teams to ensure your content reaches the right audience.

SEMrush's 2024 Content Marketing Report highlights that companies combining consistent competitor analysis with a strong brand voice achieve engagement rates 2.3x higher than those simply copying competitors [1]. This shows the value of blending competitor insights with your own unique ideas.

Use tools like SEMrush and Ahrefs to gather data, but remember: the real difference comes from how you act on those insights. Focus on regular reviews and maintaining your brand’s distinct voice. Striking this balance is key to achieving meaningful SEO results.

FAQs

How to do a competitor content analysis?

Follow these four key steps to analyze your competitors' content:

Analysis Component	What to Focus On
Content Performance	Look at organic traffic and search rankings.
Keyword Strategy	Check their topic coverage and keyword targeting.
Content Quality	Evaluate the depth, structure, and how engaging their content is.
Backlink Profile	Assess the quality and quantity of their backlinks.

To dig deeper, keep an eye on how their content performs, study the keywords they target, review the quality of their material, and examine their backlink profiles. For detailed instructions, refer back to the earlier steps.